The focus of this degree is on both academic and professional development and you will have the opportunity to study a range of social science disciplines, including criminology, psychology, sociology and social policy, apply your knowledge to a variety of topical issues and debates and explore your potential for employment. The first year of the programme will introduce the key academic areas of criminology, psychology, sociology, social policy and the policies and practices of the criminal justice system. You will also be given the chance to start exploring the kinds of careers a degree in Social Sciences and Criminology might lead to and reflect on the skills and abilities you will need to enter these professions. In the second year of the programme, you will have the opportunity to further expand your knowledge of criminology and the social sciences through modules such as globalisation, current debates in social policy, psychology and crime, sociology and crime, and penology. The module ‘Applied Research Methods’ will provide an opportunity for you to develop your research skills and take part in a real research project. This experience is particularly good preparation for those who wish to develop a research project of their own in year three. In your final year there is an emphasis on independent study and there will be more opportunities for you to tailor your degree to suit your theoretical and professional interests. The final year dissertation and the module ‘Investigating Professions’, together with option modules, allows you to concentrate your interest in criminology or pursue a more specialist area drawn from sociology, social policy or psychology. Typical modules offered to year three students include: Crime in modern Britain Youth and crime Crime and the media The management and treatment of offenders Community psychology Identities, Social Divisions, Human Rights and Gender Studies.

Our Criminology and Social Science courses are combined to offer you the opportunity to study two different, but interrelated subjects, at degree level. Your studies will be carried out against a framework of overarching debates and theories drawn from sociology, psychology, gender studies, human rights and criminology. The applied nature of the course means that you will focus on how social science and criminological approaches are used in the real world, to inform policy and practices and more generally work to enhance your understanding of the social world. In the social science component we will consider social relations and social structures and the ways in which they shape our lives, social divisions and social inequalities, identity formation, human development and a host of other applications. The criminological component will explore such topics as, crime, nature and nurture, the motivations for the treatment of offending behaviour, crime and media, social divisions and crime. The interdisciplinary nature of this challenging and varied degree combination enables you to develop understanding and appreciation of alternative perspectives and their interrelationship.